MESSAGES FROM A LOVED ONE WHO HAS PASSED....

 

I am quite sure that I feel my mother's presence for just a fleeting moment once in a while.  It's been well over twenty years since we said our last 'I love you" to each other while she was still on this earth.  I am not sure that this connection happens because I am either thinking so deeply about her that I actually create these feeling within myself...or if she was thinking of me and was able to enter into my thoughts or dreams.  

A moment after I feel her presence a warm and wonderful sensation washes over me.  I have tried to logically explain how these experiences happen. Do we feel our loved one's presence when memories are prompted by something we see, smell or experience that remind us of them?  Do we feel their presence during a particularly emotional time? I prefer to think that quite possibly, we are able to be contacted by a departed loved one when they feel the need to be there with us or for us.  I don't really have to know how this all happens or really why.  I just need to allow the thoughts and feelings to flow, give it my attention and truly appreciate those warm and wonderful moments.  

   When these moments occur, I don't recall thinking about anything really specific.  Nor did I have a current situation that I felt needed any guidance from above.  But there she was.  Her beautiful face in my mind's eye, her scent, her smile and her sweet voice.  I could feel her love. When this happens, it generally makes me smile.  But other times my throat would momentarily tighten up and a tear or two would escape and slide down my cheek.  As quickly as this feeling comes, it goes. I kind of fight it off because I don't want my special moments with my mom to feel sad.  

It seems like as I get older, it happens much more often.  Possibly because I have more time to just let my thoughts wander.  Or, is it that I am going back over my life from time to time as we all do as we age.   Good times and bad times...things I was glad that I had done and things that I regretted doing.  Usually when I have those thoughts, I take a moment to stop the flow...be thankful for the good times and good decisions and also forgive myself and others for the not so good times or decisions.   I try to let go of the unpleasant times and decisions and hold even tighter to the good times and beneficial decisions.  

When I think about aging, my life, my children, my grandchildren or my future and have any feelings of being unsure of the right path, I can hear my mom say...I know...I know...honey...it will all be fine, you will make the right decisions, just keep living and loving,,,,

After retiring from my career in Social Service, a friend of mine who managed an Adult Care Center offered me a job. So, in a nursing capacity, I started working again and I loved it.  I had the privilege of working with residents who were older than myself.  While caring for them I would love to listen to the stories of their lives. I loved the way that they told their stories.  They always kept eye contact, spoke slowly and softly with their lips always in a soft smile. Even when the stories were not the happiest...they found some way to find joy in just having had that someone or that something in their life.  I also found strength and encouragement in their view of their current position in life.  Most of them had pictures of loved ones all around their rooms.  A few of them had articles of clothing of their departed loved ones tucked under their pillows to be near them as they slept.  And a few of them talked about how their loved ones contacted them by way of a bright red Cardinal landing on the tree branch right outside of the window in their room.  Or how a dragon fly or butterfly landed near them when out for a walk in the center's gardens.  It is not for anyone to judge whether this was true or not.  All that was important was that it meant something to the person who did believe that they were being contacted and shown love from a dearly departed loved one.  

The vision of what they believed was a sign gave them a feeling of connection to someone that they missed and loved.  It filled them with hope and joy.  It made them feel that their loved one missed and thought of them often, also.  

 When I lie in bed in the evening before I fall asleep, with nothing distracting me, I feel that I can create a loving scenario whereby they know that I am thinking of them.  And, if they are not busy with their heavenly chores, they would possibly come to me in my thoughts or in my dreams.  

However it all happens, it happens differently for each of us...but I do believe that we are able to still have a connection to those that have passed.  Death does not end memories, does not end our love nor does it stop our thoughts of our loved one.  I believe that all of these visits go on forever and ever...Amen.